Like a protective tent over a colony of harmful bacteria, biofilms make the treatment of skin infections especially difficult. Microorganisms protected in a biofilm pose a significant health risk due to their antibiotic resistance and recalcitrance to treatment, and biofilm-protected bacteria account for some 80 percent of total bacterial infections in humans and are 50 to 1,000 times more resistant to antibiotics than simpler bacterial infections.
"In essence, we may have stumbled onto a magic bullet," said David Fox, a Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher on the project. "Through a robust screening strategy, our research team has identified a unique class of materials (Abstract), known as ionic liquids, which both neutralize biofilm-forming pathogens and deliver drugs through the skin," he said.
"We extended our current capability in antimicrobial platforms with ionic liquids to new heights by partnering with Dr. Mitragotri at UCSB, who is an expert in transdermal drug delivery platforms. The merger made perfect sense," stated Fox.
"In several cases, we found the ionic liquid was more efficacious on a biofilm than a standard bleach treatment and exhibited minimal cytotoxic effects on human cell lines (unlike bleach). This has excellent prospects for aiding antibiotic delivery to the pathogen through biofilm disruption but, most interestingly, the ionic liquids themselves are quite effective for pathogen neutralization," Fox said.
This work could have especially useful applications for military medical treatments, he noted, where soldiers in the field can be exposed to bacterial infections that are particularly difficult to treat.
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Researches at the Indiana Center for Regenerative Medicine and Engineering recently published a paper in the Annals of Surgery on the development of a wireless electroceutical dressing (WED) that uses an electric field to disrupt bacterial biofilms.
Bacterial biofilms are thin, slimy films of bacteria that form on some wounds, including burns or post-surgical infections, as well as after a medical device, such as a catheter, is placed in the body. These bacteria generate their own electricity, using their own electric fields to communicate and form the biofilm, which makes them more hostile and difficult to treat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 65 percent of all infections are caused by bacteria with this biofilm phenotype, while the National Institutes of Health estimates that number is closer to 80 percent.
The research demonstrated disruption of 'biofilm aggregates', 'accelerated functional wound closure', and blunting of a variety of bacterial processes.
The dressing electrochemically self-generates 1 volt of electricity upon contact with body fluids such as wound fluid or blood, which is not enough to hurt or electrocute the patient.
This type of treatment does not interfere with traditional antibacterial tactics and shows increased effectiveness when used in combination with them. The electroceutical material also has potential application in surgery and hospital fabrics.
Marketing for the dressing for burn care was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Journal Reference:
Kasturi Ganesh Barki, et. al. Electric Field Based Dressing Disrupts Mixed-Species Bacterial Biofilm Infection and Restores Functional Wound Healing. Annals of Surgery, 2019; 269 (4): 756 DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000002504
Previous coverage of biofilm disruption using ionic liquids
(Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Wednesday August 27 2014, @06:56PM
ionic liquids are a crazy corner of modern chemistry. Cool cutting edge stuff. I was under the impression decades ago that they're all flammable and toxic, but obviously chemistry has progressed since the late 80s / early 90s when I got out.
I guess the best way to describe ionic liquids is everyone knows salt, and you can melt salt at a dull glow. But there exist weirdo compounds mostly o-chem related that are ionic salts that are liquid at room temp more or less, rather than red hot.
The only other thing I remember about them is 20-30 years ago they were going to revolutionize vacuum pump lubrication because of their vapor pressure being practically zilch. I donno what happened with those grandiose plans. Probably corrosion issues but thats just a guess. I would imagine not all ionic liquids, perhaps not the new ones, have low vapor pressures.
Another thing I remember about them is they're not cheap.
I bet using them in electrochemistry is interesting.
(Score: 2, Funny) by gawdonblue on Wednesday August 27 2014, @09:55PM
But have they got electrolytes?
It's what plants crave!
(Score: 2) by MrGuy on Wednesday August 27 2014, @10:32PM
Supercharge your diet with this one weird trick!
(Score: 1) by Erde on Thursday August 28 2014, @11:35AM
I use xylitol gel for my acne and it prevents the formation of biofilm on skin and acts as a moisturizer.
http://www.whbcare.com/en/xyliderm [whbcare.com]